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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26139958">On Location</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/ktbl/pseuds/ktbl'>ktbl</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Mortal Kombat (Video Games)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Battle Couple, Canon Related, Canon-Typical Violence, Caves, Established Relationship, F/M, Family Drama, Family Dynamics, Saurians - Freeform, Secret Relationship, Subterranean Cultures</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 10:35:48</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>14,676</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26139958</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/ktbl/pseuds/ktbl</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>An early morning phone call from her daughter Cassie sends Sonya Blade and her partner Takahashi Kenshi halfway across the world. While on location in Thailand filming his latest movie, Johnny Cage has managed to have a run-in with Saurians - things that should not be in Earthrealm. Exasperated by her ex-husband's phenomenally terrible luck, Sonya finds that what should be a routine investigation (and elimination) of the interlopers has a larger set of consequences than she could have expected.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Johnny Cage &amp; Takahashi Kenshi, Sonya Blade &amp; Cassie Cage, Sonya Blade &amp; Johnny Cage, Sonya Blade/Johnny Cage, Sonya Blade/Takahashi Kenshi, Takahashi Kenshi &amp; Cassie Cage</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1"> </p><p class="p2">The repeated, annoying ring of her phone dragged Sonya from the depths of pleasant sleep into reluctant consciousness. “Dammit,” Sonya swore, rolling away from the warm bulk of her partner asleep beside her. She fumbled for the incessantly ringing device on her nightstand without sitting up, eyes bleary. She thumbed open the call. “Blade.”</p><p class="p2">“Mom!” Her daughter’s voice burst into her ear, panicked and loud. “Mom! Mom, you’ve gotta get out here, now. There’s - Dad said it’s Reptile? There’s stuff up in the caves, and -“</p><p class="p2">“Whoa, whoa, Cassie, slow down.” Sonya sat up, blinking her eyes. She let them settle on the digital alarm clock display beside her bed - one in the morning. “Where are you? What caves? What the hell did your father do this time?”</p><p class="p2">“We’re in Thailand, Dad’s filming a movie and it’s on location and super cool and I’m keeping up with my schoolwork, I swear, but he was up in the caves doing something and then they brought him back down with some claw marks and burns and he just said to call you because it was like Reptile and-“</p><p class="p2">“Can you put him on the phone, Cassie?” She rubbed at her eyes with the heel of one hand.</p><p class="p2">“Not right now, he’s with the set doctor, and-“</p><p class="p2">“Okay. Take a breath, and slow down. Go over this again.” Sonya yawned despite herself, and felt a hand sneak onto her thigh, spreading out over the curve of bare skin. She spared a glance for her lover. Kenshi’s eyes were still closed and he looked for all the world like he was asleep. The gentle brushing of his fingers didn’t do much for the concern burgeoning in her. Just her fucking luck that her daughter and her ex would have run-ins with Outworlders while she was half a world away. She reached a hand over and ran it through his dark, mussed hair, thumb tracing the curve of his face. Thank the gods - all of them - that this wasn’t a video call, because with her luck he’d weasel his way into view and she’d have a lot of explaining to do.</p><p class="p2">“We’re in Thailand,” came Cassie’s voice, shaky. “Up north near Chiang Rai. Dad’s filming something on location and we’re up by these caves. He and the crew went in and I was - doing my homework,” and Sonya barely heard the skip in the teenager’s voice. “And then they came back down and Dad was with the set medic and I ran in and he said to call you. He says they were like Saurians, like Reptile.”</p><p class="p2">“How many?”</p><p class="p2">“I don’t know!” The teenager sounded anguished, and Sonya felt the fingers on her keep working in slow circles. She put a hand on it, stilling the movement. She wanted nothing more than to roll back into Kenshi’s arms and make Johnny deal with the mess he’d brought down on himself. She felt badly for her daughter, though - none of this was Cassie’s fault.</p><p class="p2">“Take a breath. If he had enough sense to tell you to call me, he’ll be fine. Your father’s pretty resilient. Get me coordinates for where you are. Text them to me and call me once you’ve sent them so I can verify I have them correct. I’m going to pull some strings and get out there as fast as I can. Make sure your father doesn’t do anything too stupid.” She exhaled, and heard the quiet snuffled laugh on the other side. Sonya deliberately softened her voice. “You did good to call me, Cassie. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”</p><p class="p2">“Thanks, Mom.” The girl’s voice trembled a bit, caught, stopped. “Any idea how long you’ll be before you get out here?”</p><p class="p2">“Depends on how fast I can call in favors. As soon as I can. Blade out.” Sonya tossed the phone onto the bed and let out a groan of frustration. “We’re divorced and he’s <em>still</em> pulling shit that wakes me up in the middle of the night to pull his ass out of the fire.”</p><p class="p2">“You need backup?” Kenshi’s voice rose, still rough and thick with sleep and lack of use, from the bed behind her. She shrugged, then realized he couldn’t see it. His hand squeezed on her bare skin. The sheets pooled in his lap as he sat up and yawned. She reached a hand over to slide along his jaw, fingers running through the short, stiff hairs of his beard. He leaned his hand into the touch, and brushed his lips against her palm. Her body wanted nothing more than to go back to bed, tumble in the sheets with him again, but duty and responsibility screamed at her.</p><p class="p2">“I won’t say no if you’re offering. But we’ve got to hustle.”</p><p class="p2">“Then we go. What are you planning?” His voice was alert now. Sonya envied how quickly he could change gears.</p><p class="p2">“Here to post, use some of the portal tech to get as close as I can figure it out to the coords once Cass gets them to me. Get a squad sent from a nearby base if we need it, but get them readied.”</p><p class="p2">“Understood.” He moved, pressing a kiss to her lips, and she closed her eyes and tried to relax into it. He was warm with sleep, opening his mouth beneath hers, nipping gently at her lower lip. “I have a feeling we’re not going to get much privacy where we’re headed.”</p><p class="p2">“You’re right about that. Get yourself ready while I get this rolling, would you?” She slid out of the bed, and then grabbed her phone again. She called the base and issued a string of orders as she dressed and equipped herself in a matter of practiced minutes. She glanced over periodically at Kenshi as he began to layer on the complex buckled and clipped protective armor of his own. He must have felt her gaze on him; he stopped and raised a brow.</p><p class="p2">“You can go get yourself something to eat. I’ll be done in a few minutes.”</p><p class="p2">“I’m timing you,” she said dryly. “It’s a good thing Cass hasn’t sent the coordinates yet, because I’m leaving as soon as she does, no matter how dressed you are.”</p><p class="p2">“It’s far easier to take off than put on,” he admitted, and she snorted.</p><p class="p2">“And that’s a ten-minute process on its own. You need a hand?”</p><p class="p2">“I can manage. Go put some food into yourself, you’re going to need it. And the rest of us will appreciate the kinder, gentler Sonya that happens when you’re well-fed.”</p><p class="p2">“There’s no such Colonel Blade.” She dodged his hand as it reached for her, and looked down as her phone pinged. “Move your ass, we’ve got the coords. Food’s going to have to wait.”</p><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p2">Thailand was hot, even as far north as they were. Nearly at the border with Myanmar and Laos, thick in the mountains of the Thai highlands, allegedly it would have frost in the winter. As it was, the humidity slammed into her as she stepped through the portal, and she was sure she was sweating within a minute. She didn’t want to think of how uncomfortable Kenshi had to feel in his armor. The sun had begun to fall low towards the horizon, and she checked her comm unit - almost six at night, sunset due just before seven. She hoped to hell they’d make it to wherever they were going before the sun went down; the idea of wandering random Thai forests in the dark was not on her bucket list. The foliage was thick and lush, greenery everywhere she could see. They had come out in a clearing visible on satellite maps, only a few hundred meters from the coordinates Cassie had sent, but there was no visible or audible sign of the film crew or set. The forest swallowed up the sounds, and there was no hope for a good sightline.</p><p class="p2">“I don’t know why you thought <em>this</em> would be a place to settle down,” Sonya said over her shoulder as she and Kenshi walked towards the coordinates, pushing aside ferns and thick shrubbery. They might have been able to get closer, but the portal technology still had occasional problems, and she had been unwilling to risk civilians if it opened in the middle of the film set. The fewer people that knew about it the better, anyway.</p><p class="p2">“There are things you’ll do for someone you love that you wouldn’t do for anyone else,” the swordsman said pointedly. “They’re just up ahead, another couple of minutes. I can sense all the minds.”</p><p class="p2">“Any Saurians?”</p><p class="p2">“Just humans,” he confirmed after a moment. “I will scan periodically, but there are enough people here I may not pick up on something immediately.”</p><p class="p2">“What good are you, then?”</p><p class="p2">“I can always leave if that would be easier for you.”</p><p class="p2">Sonya snorted. “There’s only one person I trust at my back right now, and that’s you. You’re stuck with me, unless you want to lose that nice SF paycheck.”</p><p class="p2">“The paycheck is nice, but I also enjoy the other benefits I receive.” He bumped her once, gently, with his shoulder. She rolled her eyes, elbowed him in return, and they turned the corner to the cluster of trailers and tents and equipment that announced the film set. There were clusters of men dressed in khaki and polo shirts, jeans and vests with too many pockets, and more baseball caps than at an Angels game.</p><p class="p2">One caught sight of her, face creased and wrinkled and gone bright pink with sunburn. “This is a closed site,” he started, and then stopped at the sight of the lethal weapons bristling off Sonya and Kenshi.</p><p class="p2">“My daughter’s here,” she said simply. The man looked baffled, like he hadn’t expected someone - particularly a white woman - so clearly dressed for combat to walk out of the forest in the middle of the afternoon.</p><p class="p2">“Uh, is she with-“</p><p class="p2">“My ex-husband.” Sonya’s voice was flat. “Apparently there’s a resemblance between Cassie and I.” The man paused, and then his eyes widened as he realized who was in question. He opened his mouth to respond, but didn’t manage to get anything out before he was knocked aside by a blur of legs and blonde hair and bright pink.</p><p class="p2">“MOM!” Cassie flung herself at her mother, careful to avoid connecting too roughly with the guns and duffel bag she carried. The remainder of the crew looked on in startlement at the pair of intruders on set - and then relaxed, ever-so-slightly, when they realized who it was. A few who’d worked with Johnny Cage previously winced and exchanged Looks: this would be loud. And probably full of footage for the tabloids.</p><p class="p2">“Cassie. I got here as quick as I could, and brought my backup.” She jerked her head towards Kenshi. He nodded at Cassie, and she flashed him a bright smile before turning her eyes back on her mother. Sonya nodded at her, and looked deeper into the site. “So. What’s happening?”</p><p class="p2">“Dad was filming in a cave up there,” and the teen pointed with a hand, “and he got attacked by something, him and the crew. He came back in, cut up bad, and his eyes burning. He told me to call, to tell you what I did - that it was Reptile, or something like him. He, uh, he killed it - he says - and the crew dragged something back. They haven’t let me look at it!” Her voice changed from reporting to a frustrated indignation. “If it’s an Outworlder or an alien, and you guys fought him in the-“</p><p class="p2">“Doubtful.” Kenshi shook his head, walking closer to the pair. “There have been no reports of Reptile’s kin in Earthrealm for centuries. For your father to be the one to find Saurians now…” He trailed off, mouth pulling sideways in amusement. “That would be just his luck, wouldn’t it? It is far more likely to be something like a mutated monster from the depths of a cave system.”</p><p class="p2">“Somehow,” Sonya said dryly, looking at Kenshi from below the brim of her hat, “that’s much less encouraging.” She turned back to Cassie and sighed with resignation. “Good job reporting in. I suppose I should go talk with your father and see if he has anything pertinent to add.”</p><p class="p2">“Do you want me to do it, Sonya?” Kenshi made the offer quietly, his eyes on her face. “It may be less stressful for everyone involved. You can do some reconnaissance in the mean time.” Cassie’s eyes flashed between the two of them, sizing up the two adults, before she returned to looking fully at her mother, waiting for her response.</p><p class="p2">“No, I’ll do it.” Sonya’s voice was heavy, and she squared her shoulders before looking to her daughter.“Cassie, do you want to come, or…?”</p><p class="p2">“I’ll stay out here. You two get loud and it’s super f-,” she cut herself off quickly, “super awkward.” Cassie turned hopeful eyes to Kenshi. “Maybe you’d throw down a little? A warmup? Bet you’ve been traveling for a while, and if you’re going to have to go fight stuff, warming up would be good, right?”</p><p class="p2">“I think we can manage that,” he replied. “Only as long as your mother doesn’t require me, though. I am here for work first.”</p><p class="p2">“So weird you work with her,” Cassie muttered. “So weird <em>anyone</em> works with her by choice.”</p><p class="p2">“Go run her around,” Sonya threw over her shoulder to Kenshi. “Treat her like a grunt, she can handle it. I’m going to try not to murder my ex, and then I’ll go see what they dragged back. We’ll regroup when I’m done.”</p><p class="p2">It didn’t take her long to find the medical tent - the big red plus sign on one side of the canvas structure made it clear. Two of the sides were partially rolled up for airflow, and she heard her ex-husband’s voice rolling out of it, complaining about wanting to get up, he felt fine, he only needed a couple of painkillers and then he’d go to his trailer and wait until the invasion.</p><p class="p2">“Invasion, huh? That me or the Saurians?” Sonya stepped into the medical tent, looking disdainfully around at all of it. Better than some of the equipment they’d had on deployments - fucking unreasonable. “Cage. How bad is it?”Her ex-husband sat on one of the cots, a bruise swelling on his face beneath the perpetual sunglasses, and an arm wrapped with bandages. He was still easy on the eyes, no matter how injured he was - it’s how he made his money. He threw her a high-watt smile, tilting down his sunglasses. Something tugged at her, and there was a heartbeat where she wondered why she’d agreed to the divorce in the first place.</p><p class="p2">Then he opened his mouth, and she remembered.</p><p class="p2">“Hey there, sexy. Nice to see you too. Surprised to see you here, honestly,” he added.</p><p class="p2">“Cassie said it was important, so I came. I trust her judgment.” Sonya crossed her arms, standing just inside the tent. “She gave me her report. You got one for me?”</p><p class="p2">“You look good, Sonya.” He swung his legs off the cot, made to stand, until the nurse or doctor or whatever she was pushed him back down firmly.</p><p class="p2">“I’ll look better when I’m on my way out. What happened?” Sonya repeated irritably.</p><p class="p2">“If I had the choice, I’d prefer to watch you come,” he said with a wink. She tried not to groan or roll her eyes, keeping her face impassive. “We were filming a scene up in the caves, got jumped by something. Looked a lot like Reptile, but there were two of them, and we know there’s only one Reptile. So either he’s getting it on, or there are more of his kind up here.”</p><p class="p2">A snarling sound escaped Sonya’s throat despite herself, and her nails dug into her palm. Between Reptile and her ex, she wasn’t sure which she preferred. “Two of them? Cassie left that out. Said you’d hauled back a corpse. Anything else to add that the teenager hasn’t? What can you tell me about them?”</p><p class="p2">“I killed one, and one got away,” Johnny said, voice going hard at the last few words, the admission of his failure. “They looked like lizard people, like Reptile when he’s on a really bad run. Nowhere near human-passing.” He leaned forward, and only years of experience with him let her catch the wince on his face; there must be bruises she couldn’t see. “What are we gonna do if there are more of them up there? Can you imagine more of them, all throughout here? Shit, Sonya, you haven’t even seen the caves, it’ll be impossible to find anyone, anything, up there.”</p><p class="p2">“I’m getting maps,” she said simply. “And it’s what I do, Cage. Making sure these things don’t get further - and that’s if it <em>is</em> his kind - is part of my job description. We’ll come in and wipe them out. I’m going to have to deal with diplomacy, though.” She felt her mouth twisting unpleasantly at the word. “Where’s the body?”</p><p class="p2">“I think they put it out back.” He pointed in the general direction, nearer towards the forest than the trailers and people. His face softened, and he pulled off the sunglasses with his uninjured arm. “Sonya, let me work on this with you. Let’s do this like we used to-”</p><p class="p2">“I have Kenshi to work on this with me. This is our job, not yours. You have a movie to deal with and a teenager you’re responsible for. I cannot parent her right now when I need to be organizing a mission on the fly. I need you to be her parent. Can you do that, Cage, or do I need to get her back to LA and to Jax’s for supervision?”</p><p class="p2">“I can handle this <em>and</em> her,” he said defensively. “I have time for both.”</p><p class="p2">“You really don’t. You handle Cassie and your film crew. Kenshi and I will handle the rest of it.” She turned on her heel for the tent’s entrance again, and then stopped. “I’m - it’s good you weren’t hurt badly. Don’t fuck yourself up worse. Cass needs you right now.” She pushed past the flap, back into the chaos of the set, and then around in the direction he’d pointed.</p><p class="p2">There was an assistant or a go-fer of some sort standing several meters away from a long tarp-wrapped object, in a shady space near the edge of the forest. Sonya could smell the death as she approached, mingled with the thick rich scent of rain-wet earth, and jerked her head at the assistant.</p><p class="p2">“You’re not going to want to be here when I check him out. Get gone. Go find the blind guy with the sword and tell him to meet me over here.”</p><p class="p2">“Yes!” The young man nodded and bolted away as fast as he could, throwing up damp dirt with the pounding of his sneakers.</p><p class="p2">She gave him a minute, then approached the tarp. She kicked it, not particularly gently, to start unrolling it. The blue plastic crinkled and the smell of fairly fresh death, of blood and shit and other foulness, became almost overwhelming as she worked the body free.</p><p class="p2">“Fuck.”</p><p class="p2">“Eloquent as always,” came Kenshi’s voice from behind her. She turned around, caught sight of him - and not far behind, Cassie. The teenager groaned, pinching her nose shut. Her throat bobbed with resisting the urge to vomit.</p><p class="p2">“That’s <em>disgusting,</em>” she said, somehow still managing to sound excited. “What is it?”</p><p class="p2">“A dead body. Back up, Cassie.”</p><p class="p2">“I want to see it!”</p><p class="p2">Kenshi stood beside Sonya, a frown creasing his face. She felt his arm and leg brush against her with the close proximity, and he looked towards the source of the foul smell. “I’m blind and I can tell you that you really don’t,” he said. Sonya grunted agreement.</p><p class="p2">“Looks like Reptile,” she said to Kenshi, keeping her voice studied and cool, “even though we know it can’t be. Different - clothes, different body structure that I can see. Smaller eyes, more - fuck, more delicate features. Like it’s been underground longer, like some kind of blind cave-dweller.” She dropped to a knee, looking at the scaled figure, the harsh reptilian features, and the wrapped shirt and loincloth it wore. The fatal injury was obvious - its neck had been snapped, the nasal bones shattered. The entire face was a mess and the head hung loosely off the neck. Johnny had put a foot to its face, she was pretty sure. If she’d bothered to listen, he would have told her everything in detail. Then again, he would probably try to do it tonight. She breathed through her mouth steadily, reaching for a necklace hanging around its neck. “Some kind of culture enough to dress, and wear jewelry. Looks like some hunk of carved stone of some kind,” she added. “Not sure what.”</p><p class="p2">“Should we pick one up as a souvenir?”</p><p class="p2">“You’re as bad as Cage sometimes.” She pulled the necklace off the body, the leather thong snapping as she tugged. Sonya pushed up off her knees and felt Kenshi’s hand touch her back. “I understand why you two hang out. Cassie.”</p><p class="p2">“Mom.” The girl’s voice was nasal and strained from plugging her nose. She was trying to peer around Kenshi to see the distorted, skewed corpse.</p><p class="p2">“Go back and tell your father to find us a place to talk. I need a place with a table, and no interruptions.”</p><p class="p2">“Got it. It’s almost dinner here - things got cancelled after everything that happened. Um, maybe we can - would Dad’s trailer be okay? Grab food from craft services and then eat and go over it?” Her voice was a little nervous, but gaining confidence at the proposal. Sonya pursed her lips and nodded.</p><p class="p2">“Make it happen. Kenshi, can you help me get this wrapped back up and hung in a tree? I don’t want it on the ground overnight. Don’t know what kinds of things are in the forest here.”</p><p class="p2">“Copy,” Kenshi answered as the sound of Cassie’s footsteps receded. They rerolled the corpse in the blue plastic, and she grabbed a coil of nylon rope from her duffel bag. Kenshi made a huffing noise and she looked up at him in the fading light.</p><p class="p2">“What are you laughing at?”</p><p class="p2">“Only you would pack fifty feet of nylon rope in your go bag.”</p><p class="p2">“I like to be prepared,” she said tartly. “There’s also paracord, an emergency kit - including something SF cooked up as treatment against Reptile’s acid - and a few other things.” Together they wrapped the body, and she let him use his telekinesis to raise the body up into a tree, where they secured it tightly with rope. As they walked back towards the small camp, she felt his hand brush against the small of her back. “Everything all right?”</p><p class="p2">“Nothing that shouldn’t be here. It’s more a question of if you are all right. This is your daughter’s safety - and our friend’s,” he added.</p><p class="p2">“Your friend.”</p><p class="p2">“Your daughter, and my friend who happens to be your ex,” he conceded, fingers curling around her gently, brushing across the hem of the jacket, before dropping away. “Are we pulling watches tonight?”</p><p class="p2">“I’d like to. I think it would be best, after we manage the planning.”</p><p class="p2">“You take first, I’ll take second.”</p><p class="p2">“Cage is going to offer to pull one.”</p><p class="p2">“I’ll take whatever it is before dawn. If anything’s going to come, it will likely be then, after it’s had a chance to observe us. Telepathy will be useful.”</p><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p2">The food was simple but it was solid, local Thai dishes made by a local cook. Filling, just the right side of spicy, and cups of milky tea or cold beers to go along with it. There was an awkwardness to the meal, tucked into the trailer Johnny and Cassie had been sharing. Cassie had dropped onto the floor, Sonya sitting on her bed and idly braiding her daughter’s hair, working her fingers in the familiar movements of a French braid as Kenshi and Johnny bantered. Sonya shook her head, fingers pulling an elastic out of a pocket and securing the tail of the braid.</p><p class="p2">“You’re done,” she said to her daughter. Cassie reached up and felt the smooth lines of the plait.</p><p class="p2">“Thanks, Mom.” There was, much to Sonya’s surprise, no sarcasm.</p><p class="p2">“Not a problem.” Sonya reached for her cup of tea and took a long drink. “So are we settled, then, on what we’re doing?”</p><p class="p2">“You’re on until one, and I’ll pick up after,” Kenshi said from his own position at the tiny table. He looked oddly sized for it, Sento rising up over his shoulder, still fully armored despite the heat and humidity. She had unzipped her jacket, and remained grateful for the half-sleeves on it. She hadn’t shed her gauntlets, and she could feel the sweat beading up on her skin beneath them. The shower she was going to take when this was all said and done…</p><p class="p2">“I still say I can do a shift on watch,” Johnny said, uncapping a fresh beer and taking a deep drink from it. “I’m already awake, I can just pull the first one.”</p><p class="p2">“You’re not involved in this. Especially two beers in. You’re a civilian and you’re not being called on to do any more of this than you have to.” Sonya’s voice was firm. “Anything you get involved in is a nightmare of paperwork, Cage. I’m saving myself the hassle. You keep an eye on Cassie. Your job right now is being an actor and a parent, that’s it.”</p><p class="p2">“Like hell I’m staying back here-“</p><p class="p2">“You’re gonna stay here, with Cass, and make sure nothing happens to her.”</p><p class="p2">“Baby, look-“ Johnny began.</p><p class="p2">“I’m <em>right here</em>, guys,” Cassie interjected simultaneously.</p><p class="p2">“Don’t call me that,” Sonya snapped, putting a hand on the table. “All you need to do is make sure Cassie is safe. Can you do that? Can you promise me that?”</p><p class="p2">“I promise,” he ground out through gritted teeth. “Look-“</p><p class="p2">“Then that’s all I need from you right now. Kenshi needs to sleep, I need to go out and start my watch, and we don’t need a third person. Especially one untrained in this kind of work.” She turned her back on him, looked over to Kenshi. “Unless you want to supervise him.” Her eyes flicked to Cassie. “Both of them, since I know where one goes the other is going to follow.”</p><p class="p2">“I don’t need supervision,” Cassie blurted, and was pinned by two sets of adult eyes. Kenshi didn’t bother trying to hide the kick of his lips in a small smile.</p><p class="p2">“You’re a Cage. You need more supervision than we can possibly provide, but your father will be a start,” Sonya replied. She looked back to Johnny, and gestured at the blonde on the floor, face lit by the glow of her phone. “Keep her <em>safe</em>, Johnny.”</p><p class="p2">“She’s half Blade, which means she’s not going to listen to anything I say anyway.” Johnny gave a resigned look, and Kenshi chuckled. Sonya darted an annoyed look at him. “Look, Sonya, I’d feel a hell of a lot better if you’d let me in on this.”</p><p class="p2">“I don’t particularly care how you feel,” she replied. “I’m here because somehow, you managed to find a bunch of Saurians here, in Earthrealm, instead of wherever they should be. Somehow they’re in a bunch of caves in Thailand, of all places. You managed to kill one, and fight off another one, and now I’m worried they’re going to try to invade. I have my people already talking with the Thai government in case we need backup here beyond what we can handle.” She flicked her eyes towards Cassie, unable to see how much the teen was paying attention. Her eyes were solidly on the glowing screen in front of her, but Sonya was confident she was listening, at least a little. “I have a partial map of the cave system, but too much is unexplored. You haven’t done ops like this. You’d be a risk more than a help.”</p><p class="p2">“Where are you sleeping?” Frustrated, Johnny changed the subject, and she was grateful for it.</p><p class="p2">“Racking out in medical on an empty cot,” she answered. “It’s on the edge of all of this mess, and near enough to where the body is - where we’re expecting someone after recovering it will go - that Kenshi will hear me, or I’ll hear him, if needed.”</p><p class="p2">“If you change your mind, you can crash with me,” Cassie offered without looking up. “Wouldn’t be the first time.”</p><p class="p2">“Thanks for the offer, but I’m not sure that would be a good choice.” Her eyes flicked to Johnny, and the hopeful look in his eyes. “Tent wall is easier to get through than doors, and it’s a shorter run for me if I’m needed.” His eyes shuttered, and she let out a quiet sigh. She rose off the thin mattress. “Speaking of, I need to go start. It’s past full dark, and if they camouflage like Reptile - and if they’re more evolved for darkness, in the caves… Well, I shouldn’t be sitting inside singing kumbayah.”</p><p class="p2">“I’ve got an alarm set,” Kenshi said, brushing her arm with his fingertips as she passed him on her way to the door. “Anything happens, you suspect anything-“</p><p class="p2">“Don’t worry,” she said with a quiet laugh. “I’ll drag you off the cot. Don’t worry.” She paused with her hand on the trailer door. “Cassie, don’t you even think about sneaking out tonight.”</p><p class="p2">The teenager looked up suddenly, eyes wide.</p><p class="p2">“Mom, I would never-“ She stopped abruptly at the narrowed, hawklike eyes of her mother. “Fine. I won’t sneak out tonight.”</p><p class="p2">“Don’t you have homework or something to do?”</p><p class="p2">“You know, sometimes I’m happy I don’t have both of you in the same place at the same time,” Cassie sighed, looking up at her mother. “Do I have to?”</p><p class="p2">“Your choice is homework or I have you shipped back to LA in thirty minutes.”</p><p class="p2">“How would you even <em>do </em>that?”</p><p class="p2">“All you need to know is I’d tell your uncle Jax to put you on lockdown.”</p><p class="p2">“Homework it is.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. two</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Maybe Johnny and Cassie aren't the ones who need supervision after all...</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">Sonya’s watch was uneventful, and Kenshi relieved her at one as they’d agreed. She was still awake, still thrown far too much by the time zones, to sit down and rest. He somehow had managed the ability to sleep nearly anywhere and at the drop of a hat, an ability she envied. They sat in silence, eyes on the forest and the corpse hanging in the tree, until Sonya’s body managed to wind down enough for her to sleep. She went back to the medical tent, counting thirty-six steps between their position and the cot. She fell into a dreamless sleep as soon as she dropped onto the canvas cot.</p><p class="p1">A deep bellow woke her what felt like a blink later, and a sharp call in her mind, not quite words but a brief flash of pain that made sure she wouldn’t sleep through it. She rolled off the cot, out under the half-rolled tent side, and pelted down the path - far fewer than thirty-six steps, now - to where she’d left Kenshi. The light was thin and wan, dawn trying to break but finding itself muffled by rainclouds. She could see her feet in front of her, barely, as she threw up mud in her race to her partner, almost skidding to a stop.</p><p class="p1">He was engaged in a fight he had no hope of winning. He was good - but he wasn’t good enough for what he was dealing with. He whirled and spun with his katana in hand, and she could see it strike mud-spattered figures. She couldn’t tell how many camouflaged figures were engaged with him, only that there were more than he could handle. Some of his armor already had rents in it, including slashes and pockmarks in the Kevlar kidney guards. While she took a heartbeat to gain her bearings, he staggered backward as something slammed into his chest.</p><p class="p1">“Got your left,” she called out, kicking at a muddy figure with one leg, hoping to connect.</p><p class="p1">“Took you long enough,” he responded, swinging Sento at figure that blocked the mist in the air. “Five, from what I know.”</p><p class="p1">“Fuck,” she swore, grunting as something slashed at her, jacket parting in the path of a clawed hand. “Nice to know we’re popular.” She could see the outline of one figure, one that reminded her far too much of Reptile, and she dropped to the ground and swept out with a kick. It leapt up over her leg, avoiding the strike, and landed hard on the ground, throwing up more dirt. The mud spattered her and the Saurian, and gave her enough visibility to find its torso. She threw her hands down into the ground, hating the squelch between her fingers, and swung her legs up. She felt them close on a body, and squeezed as hard as she good, flinging the figure to the ground. There was a sucking sound, another explosion of dirt, and a sickening crack. Bounding to her feet, she watched the camouflage fade and reveal a figure, spine skewed and skull cracked, lying limp on the ground.</p><p class="p1">“Duck,” Kenshi shouted, and she dropped obligingly as Sento sailed through the space she had been in. The blue-limned blade cut across another half-muddy figure, followed a moment later by a shrieking growl of pain as green blood sprayed promiscuously into the air. She backed out of Kenshi’s line, watching his hands and the Saurian glow blue as he pulled it into the air and then slammed it to the ground. It dragged itself up, and then toppled back down.</p><p class="p1">She targeted another, dodging a fist flying towards her chest. She and a third Saurian exchanged kicks and punches, feeling her ribs creak as it kicked at her with both feet. She stumbled backwards, almost into Kenshi, before she could right herself. She dodged a wild punch, but not the snapping tongue that followed, wrapping around her throat. It was disgusting and strong, the muscle taut and breathing suddenly a struggle. She reached forward, grabbing the tongue, and pulled on it, hoping for less tension, hoping to unbalance it and free herself.</p><p class="p1">It didn’t matter, because Sento was there again, shearing the tongue in two. The Saurian gurgled and backed away as Sonya pulled the limp muscle from her throat and dropped it to the ground. She flung herself into the air, kicking at the Saurian as it opened its bloody mouth wide and turned to Kenshi. It began spraying acid, catching the leather pauldrons over his shoulders, and the sizzling sound was barely audible as it ate through the organic material. She aimed with her gauntlets, watching the pink-purple rings pulse into its chest, and the Saurian in turn into several small saplings that shuddered and cracked under the force.</p><p class="p1">The fighting continued as they wove and ducked and leapt over and around each other and their opponents, calling out cues. Kenshi kicked out with one booted foot, crashing into the torso of one of the remaining Saurians. She was certain she saw spine and ribcage slide out through its back, even as Sento sliced upwards and took off an arm, green blood fountaining from the severed limb. Sonya threw a series of three kicks, low-medium-high, at the last Saurian standing. It caught her leg in its claws, digging deep and wrenching her around. Suddenly she - and the Saurian - were in the air, and then its head exploded in a dozen pieces that sprayed her with grey matter and skull fragments. She dropped towards the ground, caught - barely - by Kenshi and the wreathing blue energy of his telekinesis.</p><p class="p1">“That it?”</p><p class="p1">“You definitely know where to take someone for an exciting time,” Kenshi informed her through heavy breaths. His forehead was creased with worry, and she could see the still-smoking pockmarks on his pauldrons.</p><p class="p1">“Told you that you could stay home,” she grunted. “You offered.”</p><p class="p1">“Like you could have handled five of them on your own.” His gloved hands played across her body, focusing on her thighs. “You’re a mess, and you’re injured.”</p><p class="p1">“I’ll be fine once I get cleaned up.” Her voice wavered slightly. “Just need a medic to clean it up and stitch it. I’ll be back on my feet in a couple hours.” She looked down at the wound, could see the way skin and fat and maybe some muscle had parted. No sign of bone, thank the fucking gods, but it definitely didn’t look good.</p><p class="p1">“I can hear the blood, sweetheart. Generally I should not be able to hear blood outside your body. This needs attention.” He cleared his throat, turning his face towards the camp. “Get the medic!”</p><p class="p1">“Don’t call me that,” she said through gritted teeth. Now that adrenaline wasn’t spiking through her, she could feel the marks on her thigh, an ache in her ribs, something itching on her neck. “You know I hate that shit. Do you have a concussion I need to worry about?” He never used nicknames - this was deliberate, or the injury had him worried enough that his composure was slipping. Neither was a good sign. She watched his fingers brush across the wound, gauging the size. She bit back a half-groan half-snarl at the pressure.</p><p class="p1">“I’ll call you whatever I like as long as it keeps you annoyed enough to not lose consciousness. This is why you should wear armor, you know. Your jacket is shredded, these pants are a loss…” Kenshi paused, and she wasn’t sure when he’d lost the blindfold, but his eyes glinted blue. “If you really wanted to have me get you out of your clothes, you could have just asked. I am sure we could have found a reasonable excuse.”</p><p class="p1">She reached to smack him, and hissed at the pain as she did, but connected with his shoulder anyway in a point of pride - and pique. “You’re starting to sound like Cage.”</p><p class="p1">“Can’t have that. Stop moving, Sonya.” His voice was firm again. “Stay still.”</p><p class="p1">“So how’s your shoulder, while we’re going over injuries? Did you get hit with any of the acid?”</p><p class="p1">“It ate through some of the suit, honey, and I will need to repair the shoulder pieces, but you’re the one worse off right now. This is rife for infection, all the mud and blood. If you wanted a good shower, this was not the way to go about it.”</p><p class="p1">“I said to stop calling me shit like that,” she hissed, but the concern didn’t move from his face, even with the slight pull of his mouth into a tiny smug smile. Her wound was really starting to fucking <em>hurt</em>, if she let herself think about it. Maybe that was his point.</p><p class="p1">Smartass.</p><p class="p1">“I hate to say it, but Cage was right. There is definitely a threat here. We have to go up into the caves and look through them as completely as possible. Call in a team,” she instructed. “One squad, maybe two.”</p><p class="p1">“Of course I was right,” came Johnny’s cocky voice. Of course it would be, in front of the crew. “Kenshi, are you okay? Sonya?” The actor knelt down on the other side of her, a hand creeping out as if of its own accord towards her, before pulling sharply back. “And call her what?”</p><p class="p1">“She needs your medic, the set doctor, whatever they are. Now.” Kenshi turned his face towards the actor. “Find them and get them here, with whatever they need to clean and stitch her up.” The uncanny blue energy of his eyes met Johnny’s. “You’re still here. Move.”</p><p class="p1">“You sound like Sonya,” Johnny said accusingly, but he looked as concerned as Kenshi did - more, because he was easier to read. Man couldn’t lie to save his life when it wasn’t an acting job. Sonya snorted at the irony. “You two have spent too much time together. Gotta get you back to LA and having fun again, man.”</p><p class="p1">“Deal with the bodies,” Sonya instructed, sagging slightly against Kenshi. “There are five of them.”</p><p class="p1">Johnny rose up, looking at the reptilian forms cooling on the ground. “Sorry, babe, you miscounted. Just four. New ones, anyway.”</p><p class="p1">“There were five-” she said, trying to push herself up to stand, moving her good leg under her. Kenshi’s hand seized on her thigh, holding her down. “Shattered skulls, and Kenshi kicked one’s damn spine out the other side, and -“</p><p class="p1">“Math’s wrong, gorgeous,” he said, earning himself an acid glare. “You’re off by one.” Johnny looked down at her, and she met his eyes, saw he wasn’t joking, and she tipped her head forward as the rain started to pour down more.</p><p class="p1">“Fuck,” she groaned. “One got away.”</p><p class="p1">The set doctor pushed through the slowly gathering crowd. She shook her head as she took in the sight.</p><p class="p1">“I am <em>not</em> paid enough for this.”</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">Sonya rested - she refused to admit she’d sleep - on Cassie’s bed in the trailer. She was on her small communicator, in close and frequent contact with the squads coming out to help. She had absolutely refused to be transported to a hospital, instead taking all the antibiotics they could get into her and promising to allow the doctor to look over her for infections every few hours. She’d been stitched up, sans anesthetic, and had forbidden both Cages and Kenshi from the tent while the work was done. She had made it to the trailer under her own power - barely - and managed to shower off the majority of the mud and Saurian fluids and matter off herself. She had claimed his trailer as her command center until further notice. She had also claimed a pair of pants and a shirt from Cassie, citing emergency conditions.</p><p class="p1">But there was something greater than “a couple claw marks” to deal with, and she would stay right fucking here, thank you very much, while the film crew packed out and she waited for her squads to arrive. They were, she pointed out acidly, required for anything further. They’d also be bringing her a new uniform. Johnny, Cassie, and Kenshi had set up camp in the craft services tent to give Sonya the chance to rest without making excuses, though by the way Kenshi’s comm unit kept binging with messages, she wasn’t taking advantage of the situation.</p><p class="p1">Johnny’s unit director and production team were livid, but the sight of the three Saurian corpses on the edge of their site gave them a solid enough incentive to go along with the evacuation. Most of the crew had already begun dispersing, heading back towards the closest city. Johnny and Cassie refused to budge.</p><p class="p1">“She calls you Kenshi,” Johnny said, crossing his arms and picking apart a croissant with his fingers. “The-“ he glanced at his daughter in the corner of the tent, “heck, man?”</p><p class="p1">“Takahashi’s a little long to yell under fire,” the swordsman answered with deceptive ease. “Two syllables versus four can be the difference between her being gutted or not. The shorter the better.”</p><p class="p1">“Are you sleeping with her?” Johnny narrowed his eyes.</p><p class="p1">“I’m not,” Kenshi answered, his expression blandly unreadable. “Why, do you think I should be?” It wasn’t entirely false - Kenshi wasn’t, at this precise moment in time. Cassie made a stifled sound of shock, and then an exaggerated sound of gagging.</p><p class="p1">“I’m <em>right here</em>, can you please <em>not</em> discuss Mom’s lack of a sex life <em>in front of me</em>!?” She shuddered, shoulders rippling, and making a gagging noise again. “Come on. Please.”</p><p class="p1">Johnny’s lips twitched, and he bit back several choice phrases. “She’s my ex-wife, and also my baby mama, and still sometimes maybe a friend when I don’t want to drop her out of a plane without a parachute. You’re both consenting adults, and she’s a great lay, trust me-“ Cassie groaned and clamped her hands over her ears, “but I might have to kill you anyway if I found out.” He punched Kenshi lightly in the shoulder. “You’re her partner, right now. You just - you take care of her,” Johnny finally said. “Without Jax, without me… you make sure she comes back.”</p><p class="p1">“I’ll do my best, but you know Sonya. No one tells her what to do.”</p><p class="p1">“You got that right.” He finished shredding the croissant. “So, what’s the Modern Major General planning next?”</p><p class="p1">“Squads should be here within the hour, and then we’re moving to the cave system. We’ll need you for that - and Sonya has made it very clear that Cassie is not coming along - and you’ll need to show us where you had the fight. We’ll take it from there.” Kenshi sipped from a cup of tea. “She doesn’t even want you going into the cave system, actually, but she doesn’t believe any of the maps she’s gotten.”</p><p class="p1">“Maybe I should just steal someone’s gear and pretend to be one of the squaddies.”</p><p class="p1">Kenshi raised an eyebrow. His bandana was still missing, leaving him bare-faced more than anyone was used to. “As if you could remain quiet long enough for that.”</p><p class="p1">“I can be quiet!”</p><p class="p1">Cassie snorted from the corner. “I will do all the laundry for a month if you can be quiet for ten minutes, Dad.”</p><p class="p1">“Almost tempting, kid. Almost.”</p><p class="p1">“I rest my case. So you guys are, like, going to go into the cave system? And do what? Just look for these things? Are you going to try to tell Reptile about them, if it’s more of his people?” Her voice became abruptly excited. “Are you going to Outworld? Can I come? If you go, can I come? It would be like a great field trip-”</p><p class="p1">“No,” both men said in almost identical tones.</p><p class="p1">“You’re not going to Outworld, ever,” Johnny told his daughter. “And your mother will back me up on that one, even if she’ll disagree with any other decision I make.”</p><p class="p1">“Fine,” the teenager groaned, and slid her headphones on, glaring at the two. “Nobody lets me have <em>any</em> fun.”</p><p class="p1">“I’m going to have to warn Sonya,” Kenshi added quietly. “If Cassie is even proposing it…”</p><p class="p1">“I get it.” Johnny’s voice was resigned. “I would be the same way at that age. Nobody lets me have fun, I’ll go make it myself.” He shook his head.</p><p class="p1">“You’ll do a lot more for Sonya by making sure Cassie is away from this, and safe,” Kenshi said carefully. “She worries. Especially when these two worlds - her personal life and her professional life - cross over.”</p><p class="p1">“Wish to hell she’d have cared more when we were married. Didn’t think she had a personal life after a while. Always work, work, work.”</p><p class="p1">“You know that’s not true,” Kenshi pointed out, sipping from his tea again. “I am friends with both of you, as awkward as it has been and will continue to be. It’s worry for her family that sets her to working as hard as she does.”</p><p class="p1">“You mean as obsessively?” Johnny snorted and stood up, plucking another croissant up and refilling his coffee, dumping sweetener and creamer into it. “I have no idea how you work with her, man.”</p><p class="p1">“I’m not always around. I’m often out on special projects. The advantages of being a consultant. We share similar perspectives on a number of things. It makes it easier. We’re around each other less to rub each other the wrong way. Think about it, Johnny - how often do I come out to see you and Cassie?”</p><p class="p1">“Often enough,” the other man allowed. “That reminds me. When we’re done filming here, Cass and I are spending a couple of days on the beach before flying back. All this shit is done and finished, you want to come crash in the hotel with us? You’ll have earned some R&amp;R, pretty sure Colonel Hardass would let you.”</p><p class="p1">“Come on, you totally should!” Cassie chimed in. “When’s the last time you had some fun, Kenshi?”</p><p class="p1">“I’ll think about it. Can’t give you an answer until we see how this is resolved. I won’t hesitate to leave Sonya with all the paperwork, but if she loses anyone, I need to be around for the funerals.” Kenshi set the empty cup on the table as the comm pinged yet another time. “And I should go beard the lion in her den.”</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">“You called, Colonel?”</p><p class="p1">“Squad is going to start coming through the portal in twenty minutes. Do you think you can meet them? They’re using the same coords we did.”</p><p class="p1">“Consider it done.” Kenshi sat on the bed beside her. “We may have trouble. Between your daughter and Johnny, neither one of them seem like they want to be left out.”</p><p class="p1">“Just my damn luck. So we’re going to need them escorted, and you’re going to have to check and make sure they don’t sneak back. Like damn paparazzi.”</p><p class="p1">“You live the exciting life,” he pointed out. “This is arguably your own fault.”</p><p class="p1">“You realize you’re supposed to be sympathetic to me. For a number of reasons.” She sighed. “We’ve got two squads, my uniform, and a pretty good stock of munitions and a small drone coming in. I want my clothes, and the squad leaders, in that order. Once I’m changed and they’re properly briefed, we’ll go do the cave recon.”</p><p class="p1">“You should stay here. Let Johnny and I and your squad go.”</p><p class="p1">“I’m the CO-“</p><p class="p1">“The <em>injured</em> CO,” he pointed out dispassionately. “And you won’t do anyone any good if you wear yourself out too hard, too fast, and can’t proceed. Put one of the squad leaders in charge, let Johnny lead us to where the event happened, and then we’ll report back.”</p><p class="p1">“Are you accusing me of being a weak, candy-ass lead-from-the-back officer?”</p><p class="p1">“Absolutely not.” His voice was easy. “What would you tell one of your injured soldiers, if there was a job someone else could do, and they could rest for the job that <em>only</em> they could do?”</p><p class="p1">“Rest,” she said grudgingly. “So they could do the job only they could do.”</p><p class="p1">“Then let me do it, and let Cage feel useful and it will get him out of your hair. Cassie can sit here with you so you know she’s adequately supervised. You can listen in on comms. And then we’ll debrief here, send them out, and you’ll have had some more time off that injury.”</p><p class="p1">“You’re too fucking reasonable, Takahashi,” she grumbled.</p><p class="p1">“It’s how I earn my paycheck. I’m a consultant. I just consulted.”</p><p class="p1">“We get back, you can get a bonus,” Sonya replied tartly.</p><p class="p1">“I’ll claim it now.” He leaned forward and kissed her once, brief and firm. One gloved hand snaked around the back of her head, cupping it in his palm and holding her against him just long enough to make a point. She made an annoyed sound when they separated, feeling her heartbeat pounding in her ears. “Now rest. I will go meet the men, tell Cassie and Johnny of the new arrangement, and meet you back here.”</p><p class="p1">“Rest?”</p><p class="p1">“Or I’ll tell Johnny you said you missed him.”</p><p class="p1">“You evil bastard,” she swore, fingers grabbing at his armor and pulling her to him again. She kissed him once more and felt his answering grin against her mouth. “Now get going. I want my pants.”</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">Shaun didn’t seem entirely surprised to find himself in charge of the recon team after Sonya made the announcement. He’d been one of Sonya’s handpicked soldiers throughout most of the Netherrealm War, and had become as close to a friend to her as anyone was. The tall, broad Irishman had worked with Kenshi before, and knew Johnny; he was the one of the only people Sonya would trust to be able to deal with both of them and report back to her honestly. With Pierce, Onabru, Kenshi - and even, she reluctantly admitted, Johnny - they’d be able to manage things.</p><p class="p1">The plan was simple and succinct: the two squads, under Shaun’s command, would go to the caves. Kenshi would remain monitoring for any Saurian minds, and alert for anything supernatural. Johnny would show where the encounter had happened, they would do some limited mapping and exploring to see if they could find where the second Saurian had fled to, and then would regroup in the trailer afterwards. Sonya would remain on the radio link as long as possible - even stationing a small linkup at the entrance to the caves, there was no idea how long she’d remain in contact with them for.</p><p class="p1">Now, she sat on one of the beds in the trailer, watching through one of the helmet-mounted video feeds. Cassie had settled next to her, apparently ensconced in something on her own phone; close enough to look over at the video and probably hear some of the radio chatter, but far enough she could deny she was sneaking peeks.</p><p class="p1">“So how’s Jacqui?” Sonya broke the awkward silence, glancing sidelong at her daughter.</p><p class="p1">“Good. She’s out on a date with some guy right now.” Cassie’s face wrinkled up. “I don’t like him, but <em>she</em> does.”</p><p class="p1">“Well, you’re not on the date, so it doesn’t really matter.” Sonya snorted. “And I’m frankly surprised Jax let her out of the house.”</p><p class="p1">“She is, too. But Will has to get her back to the house in like three more hours, and if he doesn’t…” She let the words hang in the air. Sonya knew what was being implied - Jax would venture off the farm, and Will would regret the day he ever laid an eye on Jacqueline Briggs.</p><p class="p1">“Not surprised. Jacqui’s smart, she’ll make sure she’s back by her curfew. You’re smart, too - if you’re going to be out late, you’ll figure out how to dodge your father.”</p><p class="p1">Cassie paused in scrolling through funny animal photos. “I’m not dating anyone.”</p><p class="p1">“Cassie, you’re a teenager. You’re my daughter, but you’re also your father’s daughter. If you’re not dating it’s because no one meets your standards.” Sonya snorted, skipping from one helmetcam to another. She could hear Johnny’s incessant talking and joking with Pierce, and Kenshi’s periodic dry commentary as well. Fifteen minutes of hiking had brought them to the mouth of the cave, and now they were descending into it. Not a long, difficult descent - a slow dirt and stone path into the darkness. Helmet lights turned on, and the green-yellow light from glow sticks followed in short order. </p><p class="p1">“Mom?” Cassie paused. “You’re sure Kenshi’s with the rest of the guys, right?”</p><p class="p1">“Mm-hm,” Sonya said noncommittally. “Why?”</p><p class="p1">“Because that necklace thing you grabbed is moving by itself.”</p><p class="p1">“What?” Sonya stopped looking at the screen and turned her eyes to the carved stone and leather jewelry, but didn’t change her tone of voice or tilt of her head. She could just lift her eyes, and see the pendant. It had been sitting flat on the table but now hung in the air, as if suspended by telekinesis. “Cassie, stay back. Whatever happens, stay back. Hell - as soon as I move, you get to the bathroom and shut the door until I tell you to come out or your father or Kenshi gets back. You don’t come out until one of us - and <em>only</em> one of us - tells you to.”</p><p class="p1">“Why?”</p><p class="p1">“Because I’m about to beat something down.” Sonya watched the pendant move slowly, made a guess about the size of the figure holding it based on the earlier fight, and then dropped the tablet on the bed. Despite the muscle pain as she moved, she flung herself in a tackle towards where she guessed - where she hoped - its torso was.</p><p class="p1">There was a guttural shriek and hiss at the impact, and a tumble and thud and other sound Sonya hoped to hell was Cassie clearing to the bathroom at the other end of the trailer and shutting herself in as ordered. She was half-Cage, so it was only a hope. Sonya grappled with the camouflaged form, and it flickered in and out as she wrapped her arms around what she thought was its throat, trying to choke it.</p><p class="p1">There was a kick to her leg, and then a hiss and a spit of acid, the arc of green going farther than Sonya and hissing as it hit the synthetic of the trailer floor. Sonya snarled, wrapping one arm tighter and making her other hand into a fist, pounding it repeatedly into the side of the Saurian. It had, Sonya noticed with a detached part of her mind, not let go of the stone pendant, wrapping its clawed hand tightly around the leather thong. A flailing Saurian fist caught Sonya on her injured thigh. She grunted in pain and her arm around the Saurian loosened. It was enough for the creature to rotate in her grasp and unbalance them both. It tried to spit acid again, but Sonya slid around it, keeping its head facing away from her. There was no hair to knot her fingers in, so she settled for grabbing its head with both her hands. She couldn’t feel eyeballs, nowhere to dig her fingers, so she held on tightly and slammed it repeatedly into the counter.</p><p class="p1">Plastic cracked loudly under the blows and gave way. Sonya pulled the Saurian’s head away to see the jagged edges of the shattered countertop smeared with green blood. She dodged several of the Saurian’s wildly flung blows, claws scraping across her shirt, shredding it. A brief moment of surprise - there was no bright burst of pain. She grunted as the Saurian seized her by the shoulders and flung her back, into the wall of the trailer. It almost rocked with the force of impact, and she felt dazed. The Saurian spat, green acid spraying towards her. Sonya ducked down and rolled away, arms grasping for her opponent’s legs, something crunching under her as she moved. It connected a foot with her face before she was able to, sending searing pain through her head; she could feel a rush of blood along her cheek. Still down, Sonya wrapped her fingers around the scaled ankles, yanking to pull the Saurian off-balance. It wobbled, and she flung her lower body upwards in a violent motion. She wrapped her thighs around its ribs, squeezing as hard as she could.</p><p class="p1">A series of cracks and a roaring shriek followed. The Saurian staggered under the grasp, and she twisted and pivoted to bash it into the floor. It didn’t move, but Sonya didn’t trust it - she pulled out her sidearm, and put three rounds in its head, and three more in the torso where she expected - hoped - its heart would be. She bent over and snatched the pendant out of its grasp, securing it in a pocket at her hip, and then grabbed both of the Saurian’s hands in her own. She dragged it out the door, feeling one of the body’s shoulders dislocate with the skewed tension of her careless pulling.</p><p class="p1">Only once she’d dragged it off to the side, kicking it several times in the side as if to reassure herself it was dead, did she climb back inside the trailer.</p><p class="p1">“Clear,” she called out, succumbing to a series of coughs a few moments later. She looked up to see the bathroom door crack open, and then Cassie step out. It was just long enough for the girl to go pale white in shock.</p><p class="p1">“Mom! Mom, are you - what was - are you okay?”</p><p class="p1">“Never gonna hear the end of this,” Sonya said, rolling up the shredded shirt over her stomach. “From anybody.”</p><p class="p1">“Definitely not from Dad.” Cassie ran to her mother then stopped an arm’s length away. She grinned nervously, looking around the trailer, and looked almost disappointed at the lack of a corpse. “Are you okay, though? Like, that shirt is toast.”</p><p class="p1">“I don’t see any cuts. I’m more worried about my face and any of that getting infected.”</p><p class="p1">“You got clawed, it looks like. Um. Should I -“ The teenager glanced away from her mother, and then stopped. “Never mind. Let me get the first aid kit.”</p><p class="p1">“Should you what?”</p><p class="p1">“I was gonna ask if I should tell the guys, but…” She stopped and picked up the tablet, the screen cracked and gone black, and showed it to her mother.</p><p class="p1">“They can find out when they get back. Let me get cleaned up first.” In a few minutes, the two had managed to set Sonya to rights with butterfly bandages and more antibacterial medication across the shallow cuts on her face and stomach. They toweled up the blood and the pools of acid, bundling it all into a black garbage bag they tossed by the body.</p><p class="p1">“I wonder when they’re going to come back.” Cassie thumbed open her phone, and Sonya threw a dark look at her.</p><p class="p1">“No pictures of me. Or the body.”</p><p class="p1">“But Mom-“</p><p class="p1">“No pictures,” she repeated, and hunted around for the radio earpiece that had fallen off during the brawl. Sonya slid it back into her ear.</p><p class="p1">“Maybe we just lost connection,” came Pierce’s voice, popping with static. “Nothing to worry about. It’s the Colonel.”</p><p class="p1">“That,” Kenshi’s voice came, “is exactly what I’m worried about.”</p><p class="p1">“C’mon,” Johnny said. “It’s <em>Sonya</em>. What’s the worst that could happen?”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. three</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Those were five hundred dollar sunglasses!” Johnny dangled the mangled lenses from one fingertip, his eyes accusing. “What did you do, roll all over them?” He hadn’t been first in the door - that had been Kenshi - by what he said was pure luck. Sonya was confident Kenshi had a different incentive. He would have picked up her mind (and what was on it) the minute he came within range. Johnny had been hot on his heels the minute he saw the dead Saurian outside the trailer. Shaun and Onabru had trailed in, almost reluctantly.<br/>“You’ve probably got two more pairs in your bag,” Sonya replied, crossing her arms. Her eyes rested on her indignant ex, and then her daughter. Cassie was busy tossing the last of her things into a duffel bag, intermittently glancing at her phone.<br/>“Three,” Cassie corrected from her corner. “I know because I watched him panic over needing something color-coordinated. And they’re his trademark,” she added sarcastically. <br/> There was a moment when everyone expected a comment from Kenshi, but the usually relaxed swordsman remained silent. He had deliberately kept himself away from Sonya, his presence tall and brooding and painfully, pointedly distant. Not like she’d expected him to get handsy in public, but the lack of smartass comments was telling.<br/>“Finish packing, Cass, and we’re out of here. Beach calling our name.” Johnny crossed his arms, mirroring his ex-wife. “Hell, Sonya, I should just drag you with me to keep you out of trouble. We’re gone, what, two hours and you get my trailer trashed? You get attacked by monsters in the trailer, in the safe place. With our daughter.”<br/>“Cassie’s safe. The rest of it… It’s part of my job, Cage. It’s dead. It wanted this,” she added, pulling out the pendant from her pocket. <br/>“Shit, you’re still keeping that?” Johnny glowered. “How would it have been if our daughter had to come out and find your body? And you still kept that?”<br/>“I told her not to come out until your or Kenshi cleared her. She listens. Even if you don’t. Anyway. I might need it for something.” She secured it again. “After all the bullshit we’ve been through, I’ve learned to keep these things. Never know when it’s going to be the shiny medallion imprisoning a god or something.” <br/>“I hate it when you have a point.”</p><p>Kenshi walked with his hands at his side, deceptively loose and relaxed as they hiked to the caves. His long legs usually ate up the ground, keeping pace with her; with her hitched stride now, it seemed like he was being choked back and restrained, every movement stilted. The air was thick, morning mist burning off and the sticky humidity making it feel like they were walking through a bathtub. Sonya hung back, letting Shaun take point due to his familiarity with the site. The weight of a machete hung, unfamiliar, on one of her hips. She touched it gently, reassuring herself of its presence, along with the more comfortable gauntlets at her forearms and firearm at her side. She carried a small padded box in her left hand, her newest toy: a drone.<br/>“You are enough to make a monk blaspheme,” Kenshi’s voice came from beside her, “or to send an emperor to his knees.”<br/>“Oh, so we’re still on talking terms, then? I wasn’t sure.”<br/>“You’re making it difficult to be. I cannot decide if I’d like to kiss you or kill you.”<br/>“Seems that’s a common reaction to me.” She gestured at the soldiers walking ahead. “I’d like to keep the thin veneer of credibility and professionalism I possess right now. Unless it’s going to affect the operation, can we save this for later?” <br/>The tall man snorted, and he kept his face forward. He never needed to look at her, but he usually made the attempt. It was always unclear what he saw, how he saw it - he could respond to hand signals and facial expressions, and he’d never deigned to explain the details. Silence filled the space between them, the sun cracking through the clouds above. The place was almost pretty - might be prettier, she was willing to admit, if she wasn’t on her way to climb into some caves and lay waste to a population of reptile monster people.<br/>He reached out slowly with one hand, giving her space and time to move away. When she didn’t, he brushed it against her hip, fingertips grazing along her back and then dropping off. It looked like the most usual of touches for them, the blind man locating his partner. She knew it for what it was - reassurance that she was there, and that if they weren’t okay personally, they were professionally. His voice was low, pitched for her ears alone. “Do not take any needless risks today, please. Let your men do what they are trained to do, let me serve my purpose, and for the love of everything, do not go head-to-head with any more Saurians.”<br/>“Going to ground me if I do?” She caught the sidelong dip of his chin and pull of his lips in a small smile.<br/>“Now that you mention it, the idea has some appeal. But far more likely is that you end up in the hospital, with nurses who will have you sedated to keep you under supervision.”<br/>“Just it and see how far you get. I can guarantee you won’t like what happens.” <br/>“I would be doing most of the paperwork. I would much prefer you have that burden. But we need to talk, when this is done.”<br/>Her lips pulled downwards. “I hate those words. I really, really do.”</p><p>The air in the caves was rich and heavy with moisture, earthy and bearing a faint metallic tang. Sonya could taste in the back of her throat, hanging around in her nose. It cooled considerably the longer they walked inside. There were small, narrow areas and large wide half-domes, crevasses that made her think of the Pit on Shang Tsung’s island, or some of the caverns her family had visited during her childhood. Headlamps and flashlights only did so much, and it wasn’t long before Kenshi drew Sento, the blue light wreathing him and the blade. Fifteen minutes brought them to the site of the attack, and then another thirty to where the team had lost the trail of the surviving Saurian - across the rushing rapids of an underground river.<br/>“It’s the rain,” Pierce said as they stared at the water rushing past them, tumbling down through stalagmites and smooth-worn boulders into the darkness. “Last year’s wet season was low, and this year’s dry season was - well, dry as fuck. There’s been a little bit of rain, enough to keep the water moving, but it’s lower than it usually would be. I bet you they’re exploring out of the caves beyond the river and they normally aren’t.”<br/>“And now the rains are starting, but not enough to make them move back like they usually would. Good call.” Sonya looked up at the ceiling of the caves, the eerie luminescence sending everything faintly blue. “What are those things?”<br/>“I think they’re worms,” someone offered.<br/>“The fuck, man?” Pierce looked taken aback.<br/>“Honeymoon in New Zealand with my lady a couple years back. There’s this cave there, with glow worms in it. All over the ceiling. You take a boat, and-.”<br/>“So we’re gonna get pissed on by worms?” Another voice called.<br/>“Enough,” Sonya snapped. “They’re giving us more light, which means we’re better off than what I thought. Also explains how they’ve managed this long with limited light down here. Let’s get lines strung and we’ll go across - I don’t want to risk losing anyone in the river. Gear up and I’ll get the drone in the air.”<br/>They secured the line on one side, Kenshi leading with the other end and securing it as neatly as anyone could have wished on the other, knotting it firmly and tugging it hard with his telekinesis. Sonya unpacked her drone and set it going with its thermal imaging activated, sending it across to hover near Kenshi. She slid the small screen with the display into her jacket and crossed the river last, pulling out the display once more.<br/>“All clear for right now,” she announced. “Takahashi?”<br/>“Nothing in the immediate vicinity. Just us.” His voice was clipped, a difference from his usually relaxed tones. “There’s something about the caves that’s dampening my ability. I can’t sense more than about fifty meters or so in any direction.”<br/>“You know just the words to make my day,” Sonya said flatly. “Saddle up, everybody. Shit’s gonna hit the fan, I just know it.” Her fingers clenched and released, and she kept an eye on the drone’s thermal display as they walked in near-silence. Her face was flat, eyes forward, flicking between the feed and the path in front of her. Their feet crunched along the floor, wending deeper. Every kept their fingers to themselves, no matter how intriguing the pockmarks or periodic smooth stretches of wall looked; no one wanted to be caught by surprise with something toxic smeared on them.<br/>“Hold up.” Shaun threw his hand up at point. “Got something. Wall markings.”<br/>“Beautiful. Someone get me pictures for the analysts and let’s try to figure ‘em out.” <br/>They made some guesses and took dozens of pictures of those images, and others marked on the walls as they progressed deeper into the cave system. The temperature equalized, occasionally becoming warmer. The squad peered into chambers and seeps along the way, finding something Sonya dreaded - signs that this was a civilization, a proper community. Rooms were empty of life but not of objects: lengths of cloth, carved stoneware, even small statues that looked uncomfortably intricate and religious.<br/>She wasn’t the only one with misgivings; she could see the discomfort in her men’s faces, no matter how Kenshi said the place was empty of minds, or how her drone assured them of no thermal signatures. Three hours passed faster than it should have, running with a steady flow of adrenaline pushing them onward. Sonya was ready to call it quits and turn around when Kenshi threw up a hand. <br/>“Takahashi?”<br/>“Minds. Angry minds, frightened minds. Fleeing. All those that were back here.” He shifted his grip on Sento. “Retreating.”<br/>“All right.” Sonya exhaled. “Let’s pull back on our own, then. They’re technically Earthrealmers,” she said grudgingly. It was hard to say without making a face like it was bitter on her tongue, but she did. “And if they’re retreating, maybe they don’t want to start any more shit. They’re already down a bunch of - people.” She rolled her shoulders, the contemplation of it awkward. “We’ll start to pull back. Anything changes, Takahashi, you speak up.”<br/>“Copy, Colonel.”<br/>It was five minutes of careful pulling back until the first attack, coming at them from behind and two side passageways.<br/>“Incoming!” Kenshi called it out a moment before the first sprays of acid hit armor and weapons as a dozen Saurians poured into the cave passage. They surrounded the Special Forces team at both ends. Trapped in a space Sonya realized was perfect for it - a flat clear middle path, the walls rough, sharp-edged minerals and crystals protruding. The faint blue light of the glowworms was even weaker here; they studded the ceiling like little stars, instead of a thick mat like they had in other rooms.<br/>In short, this was the perfect fucking place for an ambush, and they’d walked right into it.<br/>She wished, not for the first time, for augmented reality tech or visors that would have given her the drone’s visual overlay in her own vision. The ability to see the thermal readings instead of falling prey to the illusion camouflage the Saurians had would be a literal lifesaver, but there was no time for idle fantasies right now. <br/>A quick glance told her some of her men had dropped behind cover. She heard gunfire - they must have begun taking shots at any clear targets they had. Kenshi was wreathed in blue, occupying himself with at least three Saurians, and she waded in to take on her fair share. They weren’t bothering with the camouflage, to her surprise; maybe they thought sheer numbers were on their side. Her world narrowed to the two rapidly closing in with her, mouths gaping wide with sharp, pointed teeth.<br/>Sonya threw up her arms to block the mirrored punches they threw at her. She grunted with the heavy impacts. Her stance shifted and they attacked again with a series of efficient and bruising blows. She kicked out, knocking one back against the jagged walls. She didn’t bother to see if it stayed down or rose up, focusing her attention on the one remaining in front of her. It lashed out with claws and she blocked with her gauntlet, thanking R&amp;D for the resilience of the equipment. The Saurian punched forward and clipped her jaw, and the lower part of her face spiked with pain and then went numb for a moment. She redoubled her efforts, lashing out with kicks and punches until she felt bone crack beneath her boot.<br/>As the first one went down, she spared a look around the room. Most of her men were still up, but Kenshi was nowhere she could see. There was no Sento, no blue light wreathing any of the fighters on either side. She didn’t have time to think about it - she ducked a spray of acid. Fast, but not fast enough. She felt tiny dots of searing pain as some caught the stretch of bare skin between her jacket sleeve and the gauntlets. She gasped, dropped down and rolled. She knocked the newest opponent down to the ground, and bounded her arms into its skull, alternating brutal blows until the skull shattered, the face unrecognizable.<br/>She heard the ping of a bullet ricochet near her head. Sonya spun around in time to see one of her men and a Saurian, the soldier reaching to clock the reptilian figure with the butt of the gun - out of bullets. She kicked out and the lizard-person stumbled, enough for her soldier to strike it down and have a moment of breathing room. The fighting continued, broken more than once by a shriek of pain, the snarls from reptilian throats, the sounds of guns being reloaded. Once or twice she caught the faint glow of blue from behind her or beside her, but never the sight of Kenshi. She blamed it on the dark, on his speed, on the obstructions in the cave. He was always just out of sight, and he’d make a smart-ass comment when this was all said and done about it, too. He’d be insufferable on the way home.<br/>She shifted her weight and let herself relax into reflex and response, letting the trained reactions of her body take over. Even the last of the sounds fell away as her body worked, doing what it knew how to do best. When it was over - when it was all over, when the only things standing up were her men, when the only people breathing had no scales, she pulled herself back from reflex.<br/>There were bodies everywhere, including - to her dismay - two of her own men, fairly new to her special unit. She walked to one, hearing the crunch of footsteps as someone followed behind her. She crouched down and checked for a pulse. There was none, and she closed her eyes and let out a shuddering breath. The cause of death was clear - his face was eaten away by acid, eyes a gelatinous mess. If he’d still been alive, he probably would have been wishing not to be. The other was also an acid victim, but with a swipe of claws across the throat as well. Confirming the kill. No sign of Kenshi, and she was damn near ready to ask where his body was since no one had said a fucking word about it to her. It was like they were waiting to break the news.<br/>She bit down on her lower lip, unable to take a full breath with the worry banding her chest. They had to bring them home; this was not the kind of operation where she’d be pulling dog tags and leaving bodies behind. Especially knowing what - who - lurked in here. She closed her eyes for a moment, rolled her head on her neck, rotated her shoulders, and ignored the pain announcing itself throughout her body. There would be time to coddle herself after the work was done. <br/>“We’re bringing them home,” she announced, meeting several sets of relieved eyes in front of her. “What, you think I want mortuary affairs riding my ass? You think I’d leave any of you down here?” She snorted and shook her head. “No, they’re coming home. Triage on injuries now. I already know I’m hobbling my ass out of here.”<br/>“I will take the rear.” Kenshi’s voice. She stiffened, pivoting around slowly, trying not to show the relief she felt. He stood with open eyes glowing faintly blue, Sento loose and easy in his hand, also faintly limned with spirit energy.<br/>“Kinda figured, you’re pretty hard to shake.” She took a deeper breath, lungs suddenly willing to expand more. Something that might have been a smile tugged at his lips, and she looked to the rest of the soldiers. “I mean, hell, I really have brought you all where the sun doesn’t shine. Let’s get the fuck out of here.”</p><p>They made it out without a further assault, and with a judicious use of Sonya’s gauntlets and Kenshi’s telekinesis to block the passageway behind them once they crossed the river. There was likely an end point to these caves, two or three or more entrances, but this one - the one near the film site, the other side of the river - she would secure. Three pulses from the gauntlets set a small rockfall in place, and Kenshi used pure force to lock them together, making sure everything was jammed as tightly as they could manage. <br/>“Hopefully between that and rainfall pushing pushing up the waterline, nothing’s going to stick its head out any time soon.” Sonya moved carefully across the river. Kenshi unknotted the the belay line and carrying it back with him as he crossed to her. <br/>“Are you going to tell Reptile about this?”<br/>“I haven’t decided.” Sonya hissed as she knocked into a narrow part of the cave’s passageway. “Means a trip to Outworld if I do. Not sure how I feel if he knows there are some of his people here. They’re technically Earthrealmers - fucking technicalities - which means they’re under Raiden’s protection. I might need to go talk to him and Fujin before I make any final decisions.” Her fingers touched the pouch with the carved pendant. “I might just say we found this and it looked like it might be Saurian and if he wants it, he can have it.”<br/>“You risk him coming to Earthrealm to investigate." <br/>“If Mileena would even let him. Or Kotal. Or whoever the fuck is in charge over there right now. Haven’t had a memo lately, who knows what’s going on with that civil war bullshit.” She waved a hand dismissively. “Anyway. You doing all right? Noticed you weren’t getting sewn up or anything.”<br/>“Because I wear armor.” Kenshi reached out with gloved fingers, ran them along her arm just on the side of the acid burns. The touch sent a shiver down her spine. “You really should, Colonel Blade. You’re too valuable to your forces if you’re taken out because of injuries armor could have prevented.” The formality of his address cracked like a slap across her face.<br/>“I wear what’s needed. Too much limits my mobility.”<br/>“Being dead will limit more.”</p><p>The return to base remained muted. Between disposing of - or returning with - the dead, pulling out of the caves, and portalling back to the base, the atmosphere was sober and quiet. Kenshi kept his hands to himself beyond the most necessary contact. She would have given anything for the familiar companionable bump of his shoulder into hers, or one of his wisecracks that would annoy her, but would lend some sense of normalcy to the routine. He vanished into her actual XO’s office to make his own verbal report about the impromptu mission. She expected fatalistically that it would be the last she’d see of him for some time - between her own reports, visiting Medical, dealing with Mortuary Affairs… what had started as day in Thailand had become evening, rolled into Californian day, and Californian evening.<br/>Writing with pen and paper was a habit she’d gotten out of, but for a message to Outworld, was archaic and necessary. She addressed it carefully to the “Kahn of Outworld” - who the fuck knew who held the role this week - and asked that a message and an enclosed artifact be passed along to Reptile. She wrote a second note - short, perfunctory, a statement that this had been found and seemed like it might be Saurian, and relevant to him - and sealed it, and then the note to the Kahn. After making it down to the lab where the Outworld portal was - heavily secured, guarded, recorded and monitored twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, every day of the year and then some - and asking it be sent through, she managed to escape the post.<br/>The sky was a bruised pink-purple by the time she made it to her door. The promise of a bath to soak away the bruises she bore, already purpling hideously, carried her out of her truck and almost to the doorstep before she caught herself. Kenshi sat, dressed casually in jeans and a long-sleeved shirt, on her steps. He had a duffle bag next to him, Sento set out across it. He’d had time to get to his own apartment, shower, change, pack, and then make his way to her house. It looked like he was heading somewhere for a while. The foreboding in her stomach dug its claws in deeper. <br/>“Want to come in for a drink?” She arched a brow as he rose off her steps. “Looks like you’re heading off somewhere.”<br/>“That would be nice. And… it depends.”<br/>He waited, obligingly quiet, as she unlocked the door and stepped inside. <br/>Only then - secured behind the walls and doors of Sonya’s home, out of sight of every other soul - Kenshi lay hands on her. He wrapped her in his arms, almost crushing her against him. He cupped her head in the bare palm of one hand and cradled her against his shoulder. Her body had tensed immediately to fight; this was not the reaction she’d anticipated. She could smell his body wash and aftershave and the smell of him beneath both. She looked up at him, just in time to angle her face for the press of his mouth against hers, hungry and claiming. Her hands twined around his neck, one sliding around to catch his face. She felt the shudder of his body beneath hers, the desperation in his kiss, the way he held her tight enough she could not move. This wasn’t abandonment. The knot in her stomach loosened, the worry falling away.<br/>“Good talk.” She hoped she didn’t sound as stupidly relieved as she felt.<br/>“Do you have any idea what that did to me?” His voice stuttered and caught, lips inches from her own. “Coming back into range, and the first thing I picked up was Cassandra’s mind, frantically running in circles about a Saurian attacking, and visions of you fighting it, but not that you were alive, or dead.” Kenshi grasped her chin in one hand, fingertips and thumb holding her in one place. “Your mind is more trained, harder to find. For a good five minutes I thought you were dead. That you were dead and I had done nothing to prevent it. I had away, babysitting your soldiers and had left you to die alone.” Like I left Suchin.<br/>“Hey, now,” she said, kissing the corner of his mouth. “You know it takes more than a single one of those to put me down. And you were the only one I would trust to take my squads in my place.”<br/>Kenshi snorted, his hands running up along her body, still reassuring himself. He wrapped his arms around her, palms spreading wide around the curve of her ass as she mentioned it. “And while I admire the fact that your daughter snuck peeks, so I could appreciate you looking beautiful and deadly-“<br/>“I am going to murder her.”<br/>“-I love you too much to worry like this.”<br/>“So we are done working together, then?” She tilted her face up to his, arching an eyebrow. “If that’s how it is, I’ll release you from your contract-“<br/>“No,” he said harshly, the word tearing its way from his throat. “It means I will not split off from you in combat. If you’re going to be injured again, I want to blame myself for not being fast enough. Not because I wasn’t there.” Not again. She could hear the unspoken words as his fingers dug into her, reassuring himself of her presence, her life. “That ambush is how we will operate going forward. I have your back, Sonya. I will be at your back, or your side. Always.”<br/>“Offering to kill people on my behalf? You know just the way to my heart. ”<br/>“Through your ribcage.” He rested a hand over the bones and organ in question, earning a laugh. “Right about here.” <br/>“You’re just looking for an excuse to put your hands all over my chest. Come on, then,” she said, stepping back. “I need a shower. You can have a drink while I clean up. I’m a mess.” <br/>“You’ll need more than a shower to fix that.”<br/>“Fuck you,” she swore, pushing at his chest. <br/>“Later. Medical already briefed me on your sad state.” He paused, and there was a look of unadulterated mischief on his face. “And the fact you’re banned from post for forty-eight hours.” Kenshi hooked a finger in one of her belt loops. “Light work only, like your inbox. Bed rest preferred for that leg and bruised ribs and who knows what else.”<br/>“Somehow, I don’t think rest is what you have in mind.” She let a smile grace her face, just for a moment.<br/>He kissed her again with the same hunger and need as the first time, and the stress and adrenaline and exhaustion and mingled joy and surprise of being alive thrummed through her. <br/>The shower could wait.</p>
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